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COST PER UNIT CALCULATOR BY SYMESTIC

Cost per Unit Calculator

Calculate the manufacturing cost per good part from material, machine rate, labor, setup time and scrap. The calculator shows which cost block is largest and what less scrap or faster setups save per year.

Guide FAQ
Material
Direct material cost per produced part and the material overhead rate.
€
Raw material, purchased parts and packaging per produced part
%
Optional, rate for storage, purchasing and incoming inspection
Machine and labor
Cost of a production hour and the time a part occupies the machine.
€/h
Cost per running hour without labor. Not sure? Use the machine hourly rate calculator.
s
!
Time per part in normal operation, per part for multi-cavity tools
€/h
Including payroll costs
qty
Share of staff on this machine, e.g. 0.5
%
Optional, production overhead on labor that is not in the machine rate
Setup, scrap and volume
Setup time per batch, scrap rate and annual volume for the projection.
min
From the last good part of the old job to the first good part of the new one
parts
!
Parts produced per changeover
%
!
Share of produced parts that cannot be sold
good parts
Used to project the savings levers per year
COST PER GOOD PART
€/part
Largest cost block
Cost per produced part
Before scrap
Scrap cost per good part
Extra cost caused by scrap
Manufacturing cost per year
Cost per part × annual volume
Machine time per good part
s
Cycle plus share of setup, in seconds
Cost breakdown per good part
What your cost per unit is made of, in currency and percent.
Material
Machine
Labor
Setup
Scrap
Setup is valued at the machine rate plus the labor rate. Scrap is the cost of parts that were produced but not sold.
Savings levers
What-if per good part and year

How the cost per unit changes if you improve one of the three values. Less scrap saves material right away. Shorter times turn into money when you use the freed capacity for more orders or cut overtime.

per good partper year
1 percentage point less scrap
per good part
per year
10% shorter setup time
per good part
per year
10% shorter cycle time
per good part
per year
Recommendations
Share & export your result
Your inputs are stored in the link – no account, no backend.

Enter material cost, machine hourly rate, cycle time and batch size to calculate the cost per unit.

A free tool by SYMESTIC, the cloud manufacturing execution system.
HOW THE CALCULATOR WORKS

Calculate cost per unit in 3 steps

The calculator adds up the cost per produced part and spreads it over the good parts. Here is how:

1

Enter material and times

Material cost per part, machine hourly rate and cycle time are required. Labor rate and operators add the labor cost, the overhead rates are optional.

2

Add setup and scrap

Setup time and batch size give the setup cost per part. The scrap rate converts the cost from produced parts to sold parts.

3

Read the result and check the levers

The cost per good part appears right away with a breakdown. The savings levers show what 1 percentage point less scrap or 10% shorter setup and cycle times save per part and per year.

The formulas at a glance
Material Material cost × (1 + overhead rate) Direct material plus material overhead per produced part.
Machine Machine hourly rate × cycle time Cycle time in hours, i.e. seconds ÷ 3,600.
Labor Labor cost rate × cycle time Labor cost rate = labor rate × operators × (1 + remaining overhead).
Setup Setup time × (machine rate + labor cost rate) ÷ batch size Cost of one changeover, spread over the batch.
Cost per good part Cost per produced part ÷ (1 − scrap rate) Scrapped parts cost the same as good parts. The parts you sell carry their cost.
The calculator follows machine-hour costing. Machine-related production overhead is in the hourly rate, the rest goes on labor as remaining overhead. Administrative and sales overhead are part of the full cost and not included.
WORKED EXAMPLE

Worked example: turned part with a 45-second cycle

A turned part costs €4.20 in material plus 10% material overhead. The machine costs €65 per hour, one operator €42 per hour. Each part takes 45 seconds, one changeover takes 60 minutes for a batch of 500 parts. 3% of parts are scrap.

ItemCalculationResult
Material€4.20 × 1.10€4.62
Machine€65 × 45 s ÷ 3,600€0.81
Labor€42 × 1 × 45 s ÷ 3,600€0.53
Setup1 h × (€65 + €42) ÷ 500€0.21
Cost per produced partSum€6.17
Cost per good part€6.17 ÷ 0.97€6.36

At 100,000 good parts per year, 1 percentage point less scrap saves about €6,500 and 10% shorter setups about €2,200. These values are preset when the calculator loads.

LIMITS OF THE CALCULATION

What the calculator does not cover

  • Administration and sales: This overhead belongs to the full cost and comes on top of the manufacturing cost.
  • Rework: Reworked parts that are sold count as good parts here. Add the rework time to the cycle time or use the First Pass Yield Calculator.
  • Several operations: Calculate machine, labor and setup for each operation separately and enter the material only once.
  • Savings: Less scrap saves material right away. Shorter times lower the cost per part on paper and turn into money when you use the freed capacity.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Cost per unit: frequently asked questions

Terms, formulas and practical questions about unit cost in manufacturing.